Maryland’s largest city files consumer protection lawsuit against leading prediction market platforms
Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the City Council of Baltimore have filed lawsuits against prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket over illegal sports betting.
Filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, the lawsuits allege that the companies violate Baltimore’s Consumer Protection Ordinance (CPO) by operating illegal, unlicensed sports betting platforms and misleading consumers about the legality and regulatory status of their products.
According to the complaints, Kalshi and Polymarket allow Baltimore residents to wager on game winners, point spreads, point totals, player statistics, and other propositions commonly offered by licensed sportsbooks.
Although the companies describe these wagers as ‘event contracts’ or prediction-market trades, the complaints contend that they function as sports bets and constitute unlawful gambling under Maryland law.
The complaint against Kalshi also names Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase as defendants, which all offer sports event contracts through the Kalshi platform.
Likewise, the Polymarket complaint also involves QCX, Blockratize and QC Tech.
“These companies are running sportsbooks without licenses and betting that a new label will put them above the law,” said Mayor Scott. “It won’t. Baltimore will not let multibillion-dollar companies put profits over people and harm our communities through illegal gambling.”
The Mayor and City Council are represented by the Baltimore City Department of Law and law firm DiCello Levitt.
“Kalshi and Polymarket cannot circumvent Baltimore’s consumer protections by repackaging gambling as something else or claiming federal regulation puts them beyond the reach of our laws,” said City Solicitor Ebony M. Thompson. “The City will continue to use its consumer protection authority to stop deceptive and unlawful conduct and hold companies accountable when they put our residents at risk.”
The lawsuits allege that Polymarket and Kalshi market their platforms in ways that create a false or misleading impression that their offerings are lawful and appropriately regulated, while making gambling readily accessible to consumers.
“Allowing prediction market companies to evade gambling laws would set a dangerous precedent far beyond Baltimore,” said Adam Levitt, founding partner of DiCello Levitt. “These companies cannot be permitted to use new terminology and new technology to operate outside the rules designed to protect consumers and communities.”
The City asserts claims for unfair, abusive, and deceptive trade practices under Baltimore’s Consumer Protection Ordinance and seeks civil penalties, injunctive relief, restitution for affected consumers, disgorgement of ill-gotten profits, and other relief authorized by law.
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission issued formal cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, Robinhood and Crypto.com in April 2025, ordering them to stop offering sports event contracts in Maryland.
Kalshi responded by filing suit in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, asserting that its sports event contracts are regulated exclusively under the Commodity Exchange Act and are not subject to Maryland’s sports wagering laws.
In August 2025, Judge Adam Abelson denied Kalshi’s request for preliminary injunctive relief, concluding that Kalshi had failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on its claim that federal law preempts Maryland’s gambling laws.
The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore also filed a lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel last year, accusing the two companies of “predatory” practices in sports betting.
DraftKings and FanDuel initially succeeded in having the case moved from the Baltimore City Circuit Court to the US District Court for the District of Maryland.
Last November, a federal judge ruled that the federal court must abstain from exercising jurisdiction, effectively remanding the lawsuit back to the Baltimore City Circuit Court where it originated.